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“I thought the least I could do is feed you since I didn’t give you much indication as to why I wanted to meet.”
“You never need a reason, Dylan. You could’ve just wanted company and I’d have cleared the time. However, you do have me curious.”
“Let me mark us in a meeting and we can eat while we talk.”
“I won’t argue.”
He grabs the back of my chair, carefully wheeling me back to the end of the table. I love how much Jack loves things. I know that’s where Eli gets it from. It doesn’t matter if it’s a pitch, a sporting event, a cause he believes in, or a simple conversation with his family, the passion and attention he gives is the same.
“We’ve not had the chance to sit and talk like this for a while. Have we?” he asks.
“No. That’s part of it too. I’m looking for some information and I guess, perspective. I trust you and that’s the reason.”
“I’m honored, Dylan. Truly. I’ll help you if I can. What is this pertaining to?”
“It’s a couple of areas really, but they’re tied together in a way. I need to start with this.” I take a long sip of water before my subtle nerves to continue. “What can you tell me about Elyse Nordby?”
“That’s not a topic I thought would come up. What do you want to know specifically?”
“I’ve, well we’ve, that is Eli and I, have had trouble with her lately. I guess if I’m being honest, she’s hated me from the moment she knew Eli and I were together in any way. She’s tried in many instances to make things harder or even impossible for me. Did we tell you she was one of the judges on my audition panel for the company I turned down?”
“You didn’t. Lily and I simply knew you’d decided not to join. It wasn’t a matter of why. You thought it was right, so we supported it.”
I think my cheeks flush as I look down at my half-full glass on the table. “I still forget I don’t have to explain myself. It was the director of the company, Jill Wallace, who I work with now, and Elyse.”
“That couldn’t have been a comfortable situation for you to be presented with.”
“It wasn’t. Elyse could have been overruled, which she didn’t like, by a two-to-one margin to accept me. Then when I turned it down, before they even voted, she was more pissed off than if she got me blackballed. She’s been very hard on me where ALITE is concerned. I’m not saying this to whine, but she makes me feel like a child in my own meetings. No one else does that.”
He gently wipes his mouth, setting his napkin back in his lap. “So how does Elijah see all this? Does he have a response?”
“We have one. I mean, I think we do. I’m nervous to tell you the next part. Eli wouldn’t like it.”
“You’ve called me here in a mentor capacity, so unless it impacts the company as a whole, you have my confidentiality.”
“Okay. I just don’t know how to ask for your advice without you having all the details.” I take a deep breath and close my eyes. “I’d been working massive amounts of overtime on all my projects. I was getting burned out. I had a meeting for one on a Monday. Eli agreed to work with me the weekend before to help me get my last project on track to the best of my abilities.
“We were in the office on a Saturday. We were totally alone, the only two people in the entire place. The cleaning crew wasn’t even there. We were working until lunch. We brought in a picnic lunch, and Eli was laying it out. We started teasing each other and…”
I can feel my face getting hotter and redder by the minute. Where I thought this was a good idea even thirty seconds ago, I wish now I could back out of the room without another word.
Jack clears his throat. “And you decided to have dessert first. Correct?”
“Oh my God. I’m sorry. I feel like it was super disrespectful. I…”
Jack takes me out of my misery. He lays his hand over mine before he starts talking again. “Since you brought me here under confidentiality. May I expect the same from you?”
“Yes, of course. Absolutely.”
“You’re not the first ones to carry out extracurricular activities in the office. Some of us didn’t utilize an empty office floor.”
My eyes grow as wide as the mouth of the water glass just to my right. I carefully look up and find Jack staring at me with a slight smile. “I suppose it’s a rite of passage of sorts. I wouldn’t advise making it a habit.”
“Oh my God. No. Like no.”
“While I appreciate the unneeded confession, I don’t understand what that diversion has to do with Elyse.”
“She saw us. She was in the building, on the floor, and…well, hung around for a bit.”
